Puzzle device

ABSTRACT

Three self-contained puzzle elements are formed of rigid wirelike material of uniform section, two being in scroll-like configuration and one in figure eight configuration. One of the scroll-like elements has a closed loop with a web accommodated by an open gap span in an open loop formed in the other scroll-like element. The figure eight loops are also open to accommodate the web when the elements are manipulated by hand.

United States Patent 1191- Vaughn 1 May 27, 1975 PUZZLE DEVICE [76] Inventor: Eldon D. Vaughn, 212 S. Kraemer, Prlmary Exammer A ntn F No 1908 Placemia Ca 92670 Attorney, Agent, or Fzrm-Bon1ard I. Brown 22 F1 d: M 22, 1974 1 at 57 ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.2 453,583

Three self-contained puzzle elements are formed of rigid wire-like material of uniform section, two being 1.8. CI. in croll-like configuration and one in figure eight con- [5 Clfiguration of the scrolhlike elements has a closed Fleld of Search loop a web accommodated an open gap span I in an open loop formed in the other scroll-like ele- References Cited ment. The figure eight loops are also open to accom- UNITED STATES PATENTS modate the web when the elements are manipulated 788,048 4/1905 Jensen 273/158 by hand- 964,688 7/1910 Parker 273/158 1,168,987 l/1916 Wixom 273/158 6 Clams 16 Draw PUZZLE DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally with the art and entertainment puzzles, and is more particularly concerned with that portion of the art of puzzles formed as self-contained elements from rigid wire-like material adapted for interlocking relationship of the elements by hand manipulation.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many puzzle devices in the prior art are comprised of self-contained elements formed of substantially rigid wire-like material of uniform cross-section in varying configurations. In some cases, the device may comprise two or more identical elements, usually of helical configuration. In other cases, the device may comprise two or more elements, no two of which are even similar. In some cases, the elements are configured with one or more coils spaced apart and adapted for the passage between the adjacent coils of parts or portions of another element or elements in the coupling or uncoupling manipulations thereof.

In one device known, one of the elements has the two ends adjacently disposed so as to permit passage therebetween of a portion of another element.

In no known prior puzzle is there provided any clue to its manipulations to achieve the coupling or uncoupling of the parts. More particularly, no known puzzle is provided with one element having end and loop portions defining a restriction such as to deny passage to any non-reduced portion of the other element.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the general object of the invention to provide an entertainment puzzle device comprised of selfcontained wire-like elements configured such that one ofthe elements has end and loop portions which cooperate to define a restriction, which may preferably be reduced cross-section web joining said portions, but which may be restricted gap, and another element has adjacent portions spaced apart in an open gap span which accomodates the restriction defined by the first mentioned element for passage there through, but denies passage to non-reduced sections of the said one element. It is a further general object to provide the device with yet another element provided with a plurality of open gap spans substantially similar to those of the second mentioned element above.

It is a further object to provide a puzzle device comprised of elements according to those first and second mentioned above, each being formed of wire-like material substantially of uniform section in scroll-like con- I figuration. It is yet a further object to provide a third element formed of similar material as in figure eight configuration.

It is another object to provide a puzzle device according to any of the foregoing objects in which the elements are formed of substantially the same gauge of stiff round wire or of appropriate plastic material.

when considered in connection with the description thereof hereinbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an illustration of the elements of the puzzle in coupled relationship;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one element of the puzzle device;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a second element of the puzzle device;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a third element of the puzzle device;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view, partly sectioned, showing two elements of the puzzle device taken in the plane 5-5 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of the disposition and positioning of the elements of FIG. 1 in the first step of uncoupling the elements; and

FIG. 7-16 are illustrations of respective disposition and positioning of the puzzle elements in the steps subsequent to that shown in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown assembled a puzzle device 10, comprised of a first element 12, a second element 14 and a third element 16, with the first element 12 held between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand shown partially at 18, and the third element 16 held between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand 20.

In FIG. 2, the first element 12 is depicted as formed in scroll-like configuration of rigid wire-like material of substantially uniform cross-section for ease of fabrication, preferably of an appropriate plastic material, although it will be apparent that wire or plastic material could be used to form the element of other than uniform round section. The element 12 has a first end portion 22 curved back upon itself to a position near an adjacent portion 24 and joined thereto by a web 26 to thereby form a closed inner loop 28, which merges with an outer loop 30 which, in turn, goes into a reverse curve terminating via the elongate tail portion 32 at the other end 34, which may be at least partially straight as shown.

Referring to FIG. 3, the second element 14 is seen as being configured scroll-like from rigid wire-like material of substantially uniform cross-section, preferably of plastic of the same cross-section as that of the first element 12. The first end 36 of element 14 is curled back on itself to form an open gap 38 with an adjacent stub portion 40 of the element 14 forming an innerloop-42 which merges with an outer curved loop 44, which terminates via the elongated tail portion 46 at the outer second end 48.

Referring to FIG. 4, the third element 16 is shown as being configured in figure eight form from rigid wirelike material of substantially uniform cross-section,

preferably plastic of the same cross-section as that of the first and second elements 12 and 14. The figure eight configuration is achieved by the curving of the first end 50 back upon itself to a fixed position adjacent to the stub portion 52 on the element 16 to form an open lower loop 54, including the fixed gap 56 between the end 50 and stub 52. The second end 58 is curled back to form an upper loop 60 with the end 58 fixed adjacent a stub portion 62 to form the gap 64 there between.

The elements 14 and 16 are formed so that the spans of the gaps 38, 56 and 64 are such that the web 26 of element 12 may be accomodated therein to pass through said gaps, yet are dimensionally less than the span of the sections of elements 14 and 16, such that passage is denied therethrough to any portions other than the web 26 of element 12.

The principle involved is exemplified in FIG. 5, where the web 26 is shown in pass-through relation within the gap 64 defined by the end 58 and the stub portion 62 of the element 16.

As stated, FIG. 1 shows the puzzle device assembled 10 with elements 12 and 14 coupled and elements 14 and 16 coupled, with the object of the puzzle to decouple the elements one from the other. By inspection, it is apparent that element 16 will have to traverse the outer loop 44 and the elongate tail 46 of element 14 in order to be uncoupled therefrom. It is further apparent that this can only be accomplished after the obstruction by the inner loop 28 of element 12 is overcome. Finally, it is apparent that the solution is going to be had only by utilizing the feature of passage of the web 26 through the gaps 38, 56 and 64 in a logical order. The solution is as follows: starting from the position of the elements shown in FIG. 1.

Step 1 Keeping the inner loop 42 of element 14 outwardly on tail 32 of element 12, move element 16 outwardly along outer loop 44 of element 14 and then inwardly along outer loop 30 of element 12 to align gap 64 with web 26 as shown in FIG. 6.

Step 2 Move gap 64 inwardly on element 12 past web 26, and allow the curve of inner loop 28 of element 12 to support the upper loop 60 of element 16 and then swing tail 46 of element 14 upwardly into the position shown in FIG. 7.

Step 3 Rotate element 16 up and counter clockwise so that its large loop 54 can be passed over the end 34 of tail 32 on element 12, as shown in FIG. 8.

Step 4 Move element 16 toward you, passing its large loop 54 over the end 34 of tail 32 and slip small loop 60 down into outer loop 44 of element 14, moving its inner loop 42 outwardly on the tail 32 of element 12, and then slip large loop of element 16 over loop 42, and moving element 16 inwardly along tail 32 of element 12, align gap 56 of element 16 with web 26 as shown in FIG. 9.

Step 5 Move gap 56 inwardly on element 12 past web 26 and allow element 16 to rest on the curve of inner loop 28 of element 12. Move the tail 46 of element 14 upward and away, as in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 9, to rest on the curve of loop 28 as in FIG. 10. Manipulate element 16 to the position shown in FIG. so that the large loop 54 thereof passes over the end 48 of the tail 46.

Step 6 Continuing to pass loop 54 over tail 46, allow element 16 to rest on the curve of loop 28 of element 12. Move tail 46 of element 14 toward you, and then move inner loop 42 of element 14 inwardly along tail 32 of element 12 to align gap 38 of element 14 with web 26 as shown in FIG. 11.

Step 7 Move gap 38 inwardly on element 12 past web 26. Slip large loop 54 of element 16 over the inner loop 42 of element 14 to separate element 16 from element 14, and then manipulate element 16 along the curve of inner loop 28 of element 12 to align gap 56 of element 16 with web 26 as shown in FIG. 12.

Step 8 Move gap 56 of element 16 outwardly along element 12 past web 26 so that large loop 54 thereof, can pass over the end 34 of tail 32, as shown in FIG. 13.

Step 9 Pass loop 54 over end 34, then rotate element 16 clockwise and across the inner loop 28 of element 12 to align gap 64 of element 16 with web 26 as shown in FIG. 14, manipulating element 14 as required to accomplish this.

Step 10 Move the gap 64 outwardly along element 12 past web 26 and remove element 16 from the assembly. Manipulate element 14 to the position shown in FIG. 15.

Step l 1 Move tail 46 of element 14 up such that outer loop 44 is inside loop 28 of element 12, as shown in FIG. 15. Rotate element 14 in a clockwise manner such that loop 44 bypasses end 22 of element 12. Lower tail 46 of element 14 over tail 32 of element 12 and down, so that outer loop 44 moves along and inwardly on loop 30 of element 12. Continue moving element 14 inwardly on element 12 until gap 38 aligns with web 26, as shown in FIG. 16. Move gap 38 along element 12 past web 26 into loop 28, and lift loop 42 out of loop 28, disengaging element 14 from element 12.

Coupling the elements together is accomplished by reversing the order of the disassembly.

The inventor claims:

1. A puzzle device comprising:

first and second self-contained elements, each being formed of substantially rigid wire-like material of substantially uniform cross-section in scroll-like configuration;

the configuration of each of said elements having a first end curved as an inwardly convoluted spiral into an inner loop with said first end disposed adjacent a portion of said inner loop, said inner loop thereafter merging into an outer loop, said outer loop thereafter merging into a substantially elongate tail terminating at a second end of said element configuration;

web means disposed between said first end of said configured first element and said adjacent portion of said inner loop of said first element to define a restriction therebetween to deny passage of the cross-section of said second element, said web means having a portion of less thickness than said first element, 7

said first end of said configured second element being disposed relative to said adjacent portion of said inner loop of said second element to form an open gap span dimensionally less than that of the crosssection of the material of said first element but great enough to accommodate said restriction thereof with clearance to enable said restriction to pass through said open gap span by hand manipulation of said elements.

2. The device of claim 1 further characterized in that said elements are both formed of substantially the same gauge of stiff round wire.

3. The device of claim 1 further characterized in that said elements are configured substantially flat with the axis of each element each lying in a plane.

4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a third self-contained element formed of substantially rigid wire-like material of substantially uniform crosssection in figure eight configuration, having one of its ends curved back upon itself to form a lower loop with said one end disposed adjacent a portion of said element intermediate its ends to form a lower open gap span,

and having the other of its ends curved back upon itself to form an upper loop with said other end disposed adjacent a portion of said element intermediate its ends to form an upper open gap span, both said gap spans being less than that of the crosssection of the material of said first and second elements, but great enough to accommodate said web portion of said first element with clearance to enable said web portion to pass through said upper and lower open gap spans by hand manipulation of said elements.

5. The device of claim 4 further characterized in that said first, second and third elements are formed of substantially the same gauge stiff wire.

6. The device of claim 4 further characterized in that said first, second and third elements are configured substantially flat with the axes of each element lying in a plane. 

1. A puzzle device comprising: first and second self-contained elements, each being formed of substantially rigid wire-like material of substantially uniform cross-section in scroll-like configuration; the configuration of each of said elements having a first end curved as an inwardly convoluted spiral into an inner loop with said first end disposed adjacent a portion of said inner loop, said inner loop thereafter merging into an outer loop, said outer loop thereafter merging into a substantially elongate tail terminating at a second end of said element configuration; web means disposed between said first end of said configured first element and said adjacent portion of said inner loop of said first element to define a restriction therebetween to deny passage of the cross-section of said second element, said web means having a portion of less thickness than said first element, said first end of said configured second element being disposed relative to said adjacent portion of said inner loop of said second element to form an open gap span dimensionally less than that of the cross-section of the material of said first element but great enough to accommodate said restriction thereof with clearance to enable said restriction to pass through said open gap span by hand manipulation of said elements.
 2. The device of claim 1 further characterized in that said elements are both formed of substantially the same gauge of stiff round wire.
 3. The device of claim 1 further characterized in that said elements are configured substantially flat with the axis of each element each lying in a plane.
 4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a third self-contained element formed of substantially rigid wire-like material of substantially uniform cross-section in figure eight configuration, having one of its ends curved back upon itself to form a lower loop with said one end disposed adjacent a portion of said element intermediate its ends to form a lower open gap span, and having the other of its ends curved back upon itself to form an upper loop with said other end disposed adjacent a portion of said element intermediate its ends to form an upper open gap span, both said gap spans being less than that of the cross-section of the material of said first and second elements, but great enough to accommodate said web portion of said first element with clearance to enable said web portion to pass through said upper and lower open gap spans by hand manipulation of said elements.
 5. The device of claim 4 further characterized in that said first, second and third elements are formed of substantially the same gauge stiff wire.
 6. The device of claim 4 further characterized in that said first, second and third elements are configured substantially flat with the axes of each element lying in a plane. 